30 April 2007

What if?

What if you won a $10 million lottery, what would you do?

At a networking event I was asked this question. Without missing a beat I said I would be doing the same thing I am doing now. He was quite impressed. He said that I was living my passion and purpose. Yes! Okay, I am warm.

So, what would you do? The same thing you are doing now. Or, would you do what you really wanted to do, because you wouldn't care about earning a living?

You can earn a living doing what you are passionate about.

Something to think about...

In peace,
Coach Carolyn

Equip & Empower!

So what's Coach Carolyn up to next? She's living out her passion and purpose!

Join me on Saturday, May 12th from 10am - 4pm for the power-packed day long workshop Equip & Empower! This workshop is for women wanting to better their skills as facilitators, communicators, teachers, leaders, and healers. The cost is $50 which includes materials and lunch. For more information and to register, contact the Elizabeth Seton Women's Center or call 212.579.3657.

Hope to see you there!

Wishing you peace and joy,
Coach Carolyn

28 April 2007

A Great Resource: The Comfort Queen

One of my favorite women is Jennifer Louden, also known as the Comfort Queen. She has a wonderful website with great resources helping women to be gentle with themselves. She has written numerous books, including the Life Organizer: A Woman's Guide to a Mindful Year. It is a wonderful guide book of tips, stories, and prompts to focus your needs and navigate your dreams.

One of the quotes from her book is: "I won't bully myself to do better; I will love myself into discerning what my next step is." How often do we need to tell ourselves easy does it. I tell women if you are going to beat yourself up, use a feather. Think about that inner child. She is feeling down. Would you yell and scream at her? No, you would be gentle with her, knowing her fragility in this moment. Well you are that child, just in a bigger body. So be gentle with her.

So, order her Life Organizer directly from Amazon.com. Check out the link on the sidebar. Or, get a nice cup of tea, check out Jennifer's website and just relax!

In peace and gentleness,
Coach Carolyn

27 April 2007

Think about what you think about...

Okay ladies, just what we need -- another blog!

Having trouble with your thought life? Allowing negative thoughts to invade your life? Then this is the blog for you. Check out Think On These Things for a daily dose of inspiration to boost your spirit and kick your thoughts up a notch.

With the mega success of The Secret, it is obvious that we are having a difficult time with our thinking. It is said that what the mind can conceive, the mind can achieve. But that also works both ways. If you are constantly focused on lack and debt, it will achieve those things also. So, think about what you are thinking about. Click on over to Think On These Things. And don't forget to tell me what you think! No pun intended!

In peace and purpose,
Coach Carolyn

25 April 2007

Check out Spirit Women!

Visit our sister site, Spirit Women -- a portal dedicated to equipping, empowering, and encouraging women on their spiritual journey of life, change and transformation enabling them to live a life of inner peace, passion, and purpose!

Spirit Women is about women coming from all walks of life where adversity and transition were a major challenge. It is more a safe space for women to come and receive the nurturing they need while on the journey to healing and hope.

While Becoming a Woman of Purpose is about giving women tips and tools to find their passion and purpose; Spirit Women is about nurture, healing and self-care.

24 April 2007

What is Purpose?

This question came up earlier this evening when discussing this blog. What is meant by "purpose?"

Purpose is your God-given soul print; that thing you and only you were put on this earth to do. Your purpose is imprinted deep within and it is yours alone. How you choose to live out that purpose and make it manifest is up to you. If your purpose is to educate and inspire -- you can do that as a parent, coach, educator, minister, counselor, circus clown, etc. -- the list is endless.

The challenge, I find, is that most of us don't realize what our purpose is. So we spend our lives living someone else's purpose; we live a script that was written for someone else. Then we wonder why we are frustrated, unsatisfied, unfulfilled, depressed, you name it. It's like walking around with our shoes on the wrong foot. Or worse, walking around in someone else's shoes -- which are either too large or too small.

Part of my purpose is to equip, empower, and encourage women using my gifts of speaking, writing, and storytelling bringing them to a place of inner peace, passion, and purpose. This I can do 24/7. There is no "Oh, God, it's Monday!" I am excited about everyday, and everyday is a new day to receive miracles. And I get them, too!

To help find your purpose, think about the one thing you could do for the rest of your life especially if you were not getting paid for it. What do you do where you totally lose track of time?

Something to think about...

Live with passion!
Coach Carolyn

Purposeful Pondering

Do you really see the people in your life, or do you only see the thoughts you have about their basic character?

21 April 2007

Purposeful Meetup

Today was our third monthly Becoming a Woman of Purpose Meetup. The sharing is always wonderful. Two main issues came up: Letting go and relationships; which turned into letting go of toxic relationships.

In order to truly live a passionate and purposeful life, we must let go of the things, circumstances and people that are hindrances in our lives. The Spirit will not bring anything or anyone new into our care, until we can release some of the things that are keeping us from being the best that we can be.

The question came up about relationships, and how do we know when they are nutritious or toxic? Member Antonia shared a very insightful response: think about how you feel about yourself when you are with them. Hmmm. Profound! Worth the entire blog!

So, let us re-examine our relationships; expecially the difficult ones. How does the person make you feel? Do they challenge you or allow things to remain status quo? Do they encourage you or just put you down and criticize you? When you leave them, do you feel good about yourself or disappointed?

Remember, people come into our lives for a reason, a season, or a lifetime. Some are to teach you something, others are to be taught something by you, still others are lifers for you. We need to know when to let go of those who are only with us for a reason or a season.

Until next time,
Live with passion and purpose!
Coach Carolyn

20 April 2007

Women of Purpose and The Mirror

One of the things that really saddens me, especially as a woman of color, is this attitude that we women have no worth or value. We allow ourselves to be denegrated in the media, in our own cultures, which in turn, devalues how I see myself.

Ladies, I am here to tell you that we are more than enough! We are not "bitches and hos" unless that is who we see when we look in the mirror. When I look into my mirror, I see a divinely-created child of God. She is beautiful, she is smart, she is funny, she is entirely and divinely woman. And this is how I want to be treated and addressed by all I come in contact with.

A woman of purpose knows who she is and whose she is -- a child of the Divine. Don Imus and the gangsta rappers are doing no more to us than we are allowing. The Law of Attraction says what you put out into the Universe is what comes back to you. Let's make a critical shift, ladies, and put out our own divine-energy; our loveliness, our total woman-ness.

Let's not stand for the denegrating labels which leads to violence. Let us usher in passion and purpose, creating a world of peace. It's a big job, but we are up to the task.

Wishing you inner peace, passion, and purpose!
Coach Carolyn

19 April 2007

Women in Transition Workshop

Greetings Women of Purpose!

Just came from facilitating an amazing workshop for Women in Transition; which is all of us, really. There was wonderful sharing and the women really connected and bonded.

After the horrific tragedy this past week, there is a greater need to bond and be connected. Especially us New Yorkers, there is a tendency to isolate more and it is very easy to do so. There are an amazing number of anonymous beings in New York City.

As women, we are healers, teachers, and keepers of the flame -- we cannot allow this kind of isolationism to persist. Reach out to someone who seems lonely and shy. Make sure someone knows your emergency contact information.

For women in the New York City area looking for a wonderful place to share, bond and find solace, visit the Elizabeth Seton Women's Center at West 70th Street. Tell them you heard about them from this blog!

Until next time,
Live with inner peace, passion and purpose!
Coach Carolyn

18 April 2007

Purposeful Question

Who is the most nutritious person in your life?

Think about how that person makes you feel about yourself. Does he or she constantly challenge you; constantly encourage you; cause you to come up just a little higher than you would normally? If the answers are yes, then that person is totally nutritious and you should have them at least once a month for nourishment!

The Meaning of Life

It has taken me some time to digest the tragedy that took place at Virginia Tech earlier this week. My heartfelt condolences goes out to the victims, the survivors and the families of all. This tragic event gives me pause, as I hope it does us all.

What is the meaning of life? Those young people were studying to be and do something that only they could be and do in this world. Yet, their lights were snuffed out so violently. Because we do not know the time or place that will be our last moment, we ought to live our lives to the full, on purpose. We are not here to live randomly, but to add value to all that we encounter, thus adding value to ourselves.

Let this tragedy not be in vain; let the deaths of those victims not be in vain. But be a lesson to us all. Live life with passion, on purpose, and in peace.

Life is short, live it on purpose!

17 April 2007

Purposeful Musings

Greetings Purposeful Women!

“Listen to the calling of your heart and the true riches of life will follow.”

I want to personally welcome you to this Becoming a Woman of Purpose blog. It is my wish that this becomes a place for you to come again and again for wisdom and guidance, helping you with the questions about your life purpose.

Through my life and leadership coaching, lectures and workshops, I empower women. Women have unique ways of creating, weaving and leading that profoundly influence business, society and the world.

When women gather together, a powerful, dynamic energy occurs, one that births our individual and collective potential. At this time in history, so much depends on women designing meaningful lives, world-changing work and sustainable legacies. We must recognize and own our innate, intuitive abilities that allow us to imagine and manifest the critical changes we know must occur in a life-sustaining world.

So allow the Spirit to guide you on this amazing journey of peace, love and joy. Let us not wait for life to happen; but participate in making our lives happen, creating a life of inner peace, passion, and purpose!

Live with peace, passion, and purpose!
Coach Carolyn